Comments on: Spain Files Suit To Claim Sunken Treasure

Florida Deep-Sea Exploration Crew Found Estimated $500 Million, 19th-Century Booty

[lfmontes]

Those anglos who insist on Spain giving the treasure back to the indigenous peoples in America have to be simply stupid. Do not they realize that the entire US is stolen property from native Indians and Mexicans? Go down that way and you will end up with nothing...

As to the South Americans who maybe tempted to claim that treasure back the answer is: to whom? to the Incas or Aztecs who had eslaved and massacred entire populations during their empire building?. If just a few hundred Spaniards conquered them it was because they were received as liberators by the poor Indian masses that had suffered the tyranny of the precolumbian empires for centuries.

[roger_inkart]

''The coins aboard the ship included gold doubloons or "pieces of eight" minted in 1803 in Lima, Peru''

So, this is gold taken from South America then? Why shouldn''t the people of Peru get it?

Spain raped the continent, murdered countless thousands of people, destroyed entire cultures all in the name of greed and conquest. They should get nothing but scorn.

[roger_inkart]

Perhaps if Spain considers paying trillions in reparations to the indigenous people of South America after they raped and pillaged their land they we could begin to consider returning their gold to them.

[darnedsocks]

"(...) Odyssey, which has an average monthly operating budget of about $2 million, has conducted its salvage operations with great secrecy, and allowed few independent experts to examine the wreck sites or artifacts it%u2019s retrieved (...)".

WELL, OF COURSE, THEY ARE NOT GOING TO ADVERTISE THEY FOUND THE SHIP FULL OF LOOT, IF THEY HAVE INVESTED A BUNCH OF MONEY ALREADY TO FIND THE THING! DUH! ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD DO THAT! THIS IS NOT UN-ETHICAL, IT IS SOUND BUSINESS!

[delezo]

You should read a report from The New Yorker about what kind of "explorting" does that company Odyssey:

"In 2001, the UN adopted a Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, which seeks to thwart the activities of treasure hunters by prohibiting the sale of looted artifacts over a hundred years old. The arrival of treasure hunters in the deepest parts of the ocean has also caused concern among nautical archeologists, some of whom have accused treasure hunters of destroying wreck sites in search of valuables and of selling salvaged artifacts to the public through auction houses, Web sites, etc."

"(...) Odyssey, which has an average monthly operating budget of about $2 million, has conducted its salvage operations with great secrecy, and allowed few independent experts to examine the wreck sites or artifacts it%u2019s retrieved (...)".

[mediapreachr]

If the Odyssey wants to do any more exploring-they will return the silver and doubloons asap.
I bet the whole outfit value surpasses 500 mil and you don''t want to get impounded;also,don''t forget the lawyers cost a lot.
Imagine spending millions to defend the case than losing anyway.Cut your losses now.

[godseyesore-2009]

What a two-faced gluttonous government! First they steal from another continent and then demand its return to them as "their property". They should get only the rotting timbers of the ship (at their expense), and nothing of its cargo. The cargo should go to original owner, minus some percentage for salvage effort of Odyssey Explorer. Spain has no brain.

[acolton1]

It says The Spanish warship was sunk by the British navy. THATS CONSIDERED THE SPOILS OF WAR during that ERA.

SPAIN GETS NOTHING.

[acolton1]

Spain should have been looking for this treasure from day one. Now somebody else finds it and they want to lay claim to it. AS QUOTED FROM ABOVE "The Spanish warship was sunk by the British navy southwest of Portugal in 1804 with more than 200 people on board"

Thats 204 years ago. I would consider that LOST and if SPAIN WANTED THAT TREASURE THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR IT and now they are crying FOWL that somebody else found their treasure they lost 204 years ago. They can kiss my black ***, SPAIN DOES NOT DESERVE ANYTING. 204 YEARS AGO hahahahahaha they deserve nothing.

[darnedsocks]

IT DOESN''T BELONG TO SPAIN. LOSERS WEEPERS, FINDERS KEEPERS! HA!

[darnedsocks]

HASN''T THE STATUE OF LIMITATIONS EXPIRED ON THIS? ALSO, DIDN''T THE SPANIARDS STEAL THIS GOLD FROM THE INCAS? PERHAPS THE MEXICANS SHOULD SUE THE SPANIARDS FOR IT?! OH, YES, I FORGOT, THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS MAY HAVE RUN OUT FOR THE MEXICANS TOO!

[lfmontes]

So the Angloamericans are now resurrecting the Black Legend against Spain in order to protect a bunch of pirates ( Odyssey). If I were you I would be careful when accusing Spain of genocide and looting in the Americas. To start with, our colonial record - given the times, we talk about early modern history- is far more human than yours. We built towns, roads and universities for the Indians and passed laws to protect them. You go now to most Latin American countries and you will find that a large part of the population is either Indian or mixed ( where is then the genocide?) How many Indians are left in North America?. The anglos either killed them or reduced them to concentration camps. And what is that tale about returning the ship''s treasure to the "legitimate owners"? The legitimate government at the time was the Spanish Monarchy, like it or not. That is the law. Besides, why do not you apply your logic to all the wealth the British and the US have looted to other people throughout the ages? You will end up begging. Finally, the ship we are talking about was sank without a declaration of war by the British piratical navy...remember Pearl Harbour?. All in all, the anglos should shut up in this and other similar cases or you risk being exposed as a bunch of hypocrytes.

Finally I recommend you anglos read the book Tree of Hate: Propaganda and Prejudices Affecting United States Relations with the Hispanic World. By Philip Wayne Powell. You will learn a lot.

[rushlimpdrug]

Return it to Spain
because Spain''s history is full of honest
citizenry going throught the world
spreading justice.

right?

[Martha Z]

This is similar to when someone finds a wallet on the sidewalk. The right thing to do is to return it to it''s owner. It belongs to Spain.

[Martha Z]

This is similar to when someone finds a wallet on the sidewalk. The right thing to do is return it to it''s owner. It belongs to Spain.

[excoachken]

If the Spanish insist upon this folly, I suggest that the descendants of the Carribean natives that Columbus kidnapped and took back to a life of slavery in Spain, receive ALL the wealth of this ship!

[louiville2]

The new Spanish fleet have glass bottom boats so they can review the last Spanish Fleet.

[nor-one]

Good american thinking "drinuk" let''s take it one step further and shut those pesky redskins of ours up once and for all. They got their aces kicked now forget the treaty BS and live with it. No more free ride! remember if it''s not nailed down it must belong to the good old USA!

[sverre5-2009]

Apologies for double posting, the website messed up.

[consciousnes]

They stole it from the Americas once by murdering the americans that had it now they are trying to steel it again through the courts.
But then it is a lawyer''s world. The laws have been passed to protect the wealthy.